<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> Now this is a track I can picture in my mind! Growing up in rural Australia means that songs like this classic really speak to my heart.<br /> <div> <br /></div> <div> Sometimes music these days is just a bunch of utter rubbish where people sing nonsense lyrics that some other bugger wrote for them to make them another million bucks.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Let's wind that clock back a bit and check out some lyrics from an Australian classic.</div> <div> <br /></div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgguqDJGWumybzkeKWeYq9moOeQmT-I70vduu7ZH0YRzd2YFjT4j2dT6KDb_w7TOMiDgRUe625oZzXyj_o8Gm1XRu_f4yXpF386_iQC27AsTO7DY0cmpYZy4iuHex0Rwf_JM4j2V1NSJB_D/s1600/track-shack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgguqDJGWumybzkeKWeYq9moOeQmT-I70vduu7ZH0YRzd2YFjT4j2dT6KDb_w7TOMiDgRUe625oZzXyj_o8Gm1XRu_f4yXpF386_iQC27AsTO7DY0cmpYZy4iuHex0Rwf_JM4j2V1NSJB_D/s1600/track-shack.jpg" height="238" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical country "track" with a homestead visible amongst<br /> the gum trees ahead (to the right). Moggill Road, Indooroopilly, Brisbane 1921.<br /> Photo credit: <a href="http://bonzle.com/pictures-over-time/pictures-taken-in-1921/page-2/size-3/picture-5hsoy5q8/moggill-road/view-of-moggill-road-indooroopilly-brisbane-1921" target="_blank">Bonzle.com</a></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div> <b>Along the Road to Gundagai</b> was written way back in 1922 by a true blue Aussie bloke tickling the ivories in a Melbourne music store.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_O%27Hagan" target="_blank">Jack O'Hagan</a> worked for <a href="http://www.allansbillyhyde.com.au/" target="_blank">Allans Music store</a> (which is still around today!). He was a talented musician who played the sheetmusic that customers were interested in buying. In the meantime, this young'n was crafting a little masterpiece of his own that would eventually become an Aussie favourite.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Check out the lyrics and we'll discuss what some of the more obscure phrases mean.</div> <div> <br /></div> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i>There's a track winding back<br />To an old-fashioned shack<br />Along the road to Gundagai&nbsp;</i></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i>Where the blue gums are growing<br />And the Murrumbidgee's flowing<br />Beneath that sunny sky&nbsp;</i></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i>Where my daddy and mother<br />Are waiting for me<br />And the pals of my childhood<br />Once more I will see.&nbsp;</i></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <i>Then no more will I roam,<br />When I'm heading right for home<br />Along the road to Gundagai.</i></blockquote> <div> <br /></div> <div> And it's that simple!</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> I dunno about you, but I reckon that's gold. Jack obviously had a love for the countryside and the simple things in life, like his old family shack, the big Aussie gum trees and his schoolmates. Those are the things memories are made of, ay?</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Jack's mate, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Dawson_(bass-baritone)" target="_blank">Peter Dawson</a>, recorded this song a couple of years later. The song sold around 50,000 copies in 3 months and both blokes probably made a motza!</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Have a listen to Peter Dawson's recording. Sing along if you want to!</div> <div> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/brn1RggXKuA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> I hope you enjoyed this Aussie classic. I'll end with an explanation of some of the lyrics used. Feel free to comment below and ask me any questions about other words you don't understand.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Til next time, see ya!</div> <div> <br /></div> <hr /> <div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Track:</b> a narrow country road, usually dirt</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Shack:</b> Old rugged house (not a fancy, expensive one)</span></div> <div> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Gundagai:</b> a country town in rural New South Wales (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundagai" target="_blank">wikipedia</a>)</span></div> <div> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Blue gums:</b> a type of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_globulus" target="_blank"> eucalyptus tree</a> native to Australia</span></div> <div> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Murrumbidgee:</b> a major river in New South Wales</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span> <span style="color: yellow;">Other words...</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Bugger:</b> idiot, jerk</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Bucks:</b> dollars</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>True blue:</b> genuine, real</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Bloke:</b> a man, guy</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Tickling the ivories:</b> playing the piano</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Young'n:</b> young guy, young lad</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>That's gold:</b> that's great, awesome, amazing</span><br /> <span style="color: yellow;"><b>Ay:</b> often used at the end of a sentence, meaning "don't you agree?"</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </div>